Image via WikipediaOhio’s Driving Under Suspension (DUS) law is formidable. The statutory scheme encompasses over 20 different types of suspensions ranging from Automatic License Suspensions for DUI offenses to suspensions for failing to purchase adequate insurance coverage. Please click on the links below for specific information. If you need additional information on Ohio’s DUS law, or if you find yourself charged with Driving Under Suspension or any of the myriad offense that require contact with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, please contact Dayton traffic attorney Charles M. Rowland II at (937)318-1DUI [318-1384] today.
Types of Suspensions in Ohio12-Points
Administrative License...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="256" caption="3D rendering of the THC molecule "][/caption]Today, 90 million Americans have the right to access medical marijuana when they are seriously ill. Ohioans will consider the passage of a medical marijuana bill this fall. As more states decriminalize and legalize marijuana, law enforcement is scrambling to deal with what it warns will be a dramatic increase in driving while stoned. What can we expect?LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE. Many states have adopted a specified training regimen for law enforcement officers. This protocol allows officers to testify as to specific observations of marijuana impairment. Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) are trained to...

Ohio Revised Code 4511.19(D)(4)(b) sets forth the law on admissibility of the standardized field sobriety tests in Ohio. It reads, in pertinent part:
(b) In any criminal prosecution or juvenile court proceeding for a violation of division (A) or (B) of this section, of a municipal ordinance relating to operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or alcohol and a drug of abuse, or of a municipal ordinance relating to operating a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the whole blood, blood serum...

ODH and the Disappearing Intoxilyzer 8000 RecordsOne of the proposed benefits of the adoption of the Intoxilyzer 8000 was to be the consolidation of breath test records in one place. Previously, breath test records were maintained by the individual police departments. Implementation and maintenance of the Intoxilyzer 8000 is the responsibility of the Ohio Department of Health and specifically the ODH's Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Testing. The Ohio Department of Health has started a web site containing all information about breath tests in the state, called the Breath Instrument Data Center. [HERE] Records were to be available on-line and...

The Intoxilyzer 8000 breath testing machine adopted by Ohio in all 88 counties differs significantly from the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine that has been used for years. Both machines operate using INFRARED ABSORPTION to analyze breath samples. The sample (deep lung aveolar air) is blown into the sample chamber and then excited by an infrared light source. The decrease in intensity of the IR light due to absorption by alcohol in the breath sample is proportional to the alcohol in the breath. The Intoxilyzer 8000 has a significantly smaller sample chamber (29.4 cc's vs. 84 cc's in the 5000) and...

In a great article in Politico, Kathryn Wolfe describes the fight brewing between MADD and the opponents of their latest prohibition technology - DADDS. MADD has been working with major insurance companies and automobile manufacturers to get a passive alcohol system (called DADDS) as mandated equipment in every automobile in the world. In 2008, at MADD’s urging, the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety entered into a $10 million agreement with the federal government to develop such a technology. This system would search every driver (not just convicted DUI offenders) every single time they started their car. This year, MADD's power as...

We frequently encounter jurisdictions that conduct "interviews" with a suspect following an arrest. These interviews are carefully crafted checklists that gather incriminating statements related to the elements of the crime and further attempt to limit mitigating factors which your attorney may later wish to assert. The questions typically seek to establish that the suspect was "operating" the vehicle. Officers will also ask what the person had to eat and drink, when, where and how much. Medical issues, mental issues, eye health, and other questions seek to limit the suspect's ability to later assert a defense to the clues of impairment...